Me & Favre

I am thrilled to guest blog here. I love the site – and your shared addiction to everything GB. Thanks to Hayes for the kind introduction. My story is pretty simple: grew up in Oshkosh and loved the Pack back to my childhood days when they sucked and the only thrill you could really get was betting on whether Randy Wright would faint or whether Charles Martin would kill someone.

I have been as consumed with you with the Favre saga. You guys were dead-on to chronicle Favre’s BS from the earliest days of this mess. I have spent countless hours reading the pro-Farve side from Mortenson and King to the Packer spin via the JSONLINE (which, if I can disgress for a moment, has been criminal in its inability to crack the code on reporting in real-time on the pack. They should own this beat, and they often don’t).

There is no doubt Favre deserves the bulk of the blame here. His drama, his indecision and his disregard for the Packers image is inexcusable. His self-indulgence is breathtaking. His biggest sin, to me, is flirting with the Vikings. Who cares if it amounts to tampering? The guy actively courted our hated rivals and a team he knows stands in the way of our playoff run. This quote says it all:

“My intentions have been to play, and with Green Bay,” Favre told ESPN’s Werder. “They say no, so I still want to play in this division for obvious reasons, which I made clear to management. If they won’t let me play in Green Bay, let me play against you. That’s where I am.”

WOW.

Still with all the said, I think the solution is simple: LET FAVRE REPORT AND BE NAMED STARTING QB MONDAY. Here is my reasoning. This is football not church. The goal is to win and win now. There is no doubt he gives us the best chance to win – that is indisputable. The man has earned forgiveness. He has literally bled for this team, restored this team, and won for this team. Would you rather have Ted Thompon’s principles and a content Aaron Rogers or 13 wins?

It took me few weeks and many debates with my buddy Denny to get to this point.

We all tend to hyperventilate about sports the way we do about politics. All will be forgotten if Favre reports Monday and plays the way he did last season. If his skills have diminished (i think he has three years left in him) than pull the hook and put Rogers in. Yes, Thompson will look like a fool if he flipflops. Yes, some players will be agitated. Yes, it sets a terrible precedent.

But how will everyone look and feel if Favre bolts – and Rogers crumbles? A lot worse, I think.

I am very sympathetic to the antiFavre take. I am also intrigued about Rogers potential. But I would be happy to wait another year or so to find if he is the real deal. We already have one of those – at least when it comes to performance on the field.

6 Responses to “Me & Favre”

“There is no doubt he gives us the best chance to win – that is indisputable.”

Indisputable? I’ll bet you that both McCarthy and Thompson *honestly* dispute this.

Let’s call a spade a spade: Favre is the ultimate choke artist. Off the top of my head I can’t even come up with another NFL player that comes a close second in terms of spectacular failure when his team has needed him most.

Let’s repeat that: when the team needs him the most he plays his worst. Anyone even want to debate this point?

How will people feel if we get a 2005 version of Favre for one year and then lose Rodgers who goes on to be a good quarterback somewhere else?

Favre was great last year, but that was with having someone actually living with him to help him stay in shape in the off-season and then spending hours and hours looking at film. He didn’t do the former and we have no guarantee that he’ll do the latter. Rodgers has shown a commitment to the team and quite a bit of leadership (which Favre has seemed to be lacking of late).

I’ve been a huge Favre fan and he’s been the only Packers QB I’ve ever known. But I don’t think it is indisputable that he gives us the best chance to win. Rodgers isn’t going to be Favre, and he is an unknown. But Mike McCarthy is a heck of a QB coach and evaluator of talent, he’s had three years to learn from Favre and he’s generally handled himself very well. Favere can be great or he can be horrible and there isn’t much in between. We can’t know if we would get a 2005 year or a 2007 year. Especially given that the offense was restructured to fit Rodger’s strengths rather than Favre’s.

The Comish is not signing the reinstatement letter until at least Monday. The circus is delayed until Wednesday maybe Thursday. The Packers are now left with very few options and none of them are good.

Option 1: Trade – This possibility is almost impossible any more. Favre has put so many restrictions on who he will play with any chance of trading outside the division is gone. Within the division, Chicago has already said they are not interested and Detroit has not expressed any interest, at least in public. Detroit of course already has an old QB that throws a lot of interceptions. That leaves us with Minnesota and guess what, why should they trade a pick or player when they can grab him if the Packers release him? We can thank that idiot Goodell for sticking his nose into this option early. His interference caused any team looking at Favre to say, we can just sit back and watch the Packers get desperate.

Option 2: Unconditional Release – That means Favre and Cook win. They have been focused on this option like a laser beam from the beginning. Their reactions during this time reminded me of Ahmadenijad saying he will talk and then two days later saying he won’t talk. The Packers get a ton of Cap Money and play Favre twice, once on opening day. We all know Minnesota is the only team in the Favre/Cook plan. If he beats the Packers twice Ted Thompson better not have a dog. We all know what happened to Dan Devine’s.

Option 3: Give Favre a Rooster Position – This option could be the best or worst. If Rodgers gets his hat and clipboard out of the equipment room Friday it might have a chance. If Rodgers sits on the bench and Favre starts throwing interceptions, do you think McCarthy will pull him? If Rodgers starts and is throwing interceptions, can you imagine the crowd reaction? The only way this option has a chance would be to trade Rodgers. Would that ever happen? I don’t think so.

Option 4: Favre flunks the physical – This would be the best of all options. I think I’ll go to Mass twice tomorrow.

How in the hell did we get to this point? Could it be TT has a great eye for talent but needs some remedial work on his management skills?

RLC – For option 3, there is another angle you didn’t play out. Rodgers starts Week 1, throws for 300+ and 3 TDs with Favre holding the clipboard. The antiFavre group is ecstatic. On the way to the locker room after the post game presser, he gets injured (see 2006 and 2007) and is done for the year. Favre comes in for Week 2 at the Lions. The proFavre group now gets their wish and delays the question of will he/won’t he for another year. Given recent history with Rodgers, I would not put that out of the realm of possibility, although I give about a 0.000001% chance of Favre being the back-up in GB.

Welcome Jim! It will be interesting to hear your opinion and how they fall compared with Andy and Steve’s.